Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Hot Rod Forum : Hotrodders Bulletin Board forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name (usually not your first and last name), your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Insurance

Please select your insurance company (Optional)

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

01-11-2013 12:09 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech69

keys words that ring a bell is passion and how that passion will allow you to overlook things. I don't expect an E-cookie or anything but I walked away from what I consider great pay to do the cars I really love for a lot less.

"E-Cookie" LOL, that's good. As I will often say Henry, "Thank God for the artist, what a beautiful world they create for us."

Some struggle, most struggle to provide art for others.

To make a good living as you do, doing what you love to do, it is a treasure that is for sure. This life we live, it is TODAY. Those who have some date or event that is going be what they are waiting for, so sad. You know the ones, their happiness is out there somewhere, it's often just out of reach, right at their finger tips, just not quite close enough to grasp. And like the evasive cat you want to pet who stays just a step away not matter how close you get, I know people who look at happiness like that.

Not me baby, TODAY is life, I am going to enjoy every minute today no matter what I am doing.

Brian

01-11-2013 11:45 AM

tech69

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Brilliantly said Ray, you put it much better than I could have, honestly, to the original poster, read Rays post over and over, print it out and put it in your wallet and read it once in a while, truer words have not been spoken.

Brian

keys words that ring a bell is passion and how that passion will allow you to overlook things. I don't expect an E-cookie or anything but I walked away from what I consider great pay to do the cars I really love for a lot less.

01-11-2013 11:29 AM

MARTINSR

Brilliantly said Ray, you put it much better than I could have, honestly, to the original poster, read Rays post over and over, print it out and put it in your wallet and read it once in a while, truer words have not been spoken.

Brian

01-11-2013 10:40 AM

69 widetrack

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude1

hey everyone im sure this isn't the right place to ask but i want to ask anyone who has or is working in auto collision repair (autobody man) how is the career? is it stressful? ******y bosses? long hours? pay? enjoyable? satisfying? job security? advancing? do you hate cars now? i know that every career has its up and down but i really would love to hear your answers. my final question is ultimately if you were 23 years old would you pursue this career again or would you choose a different career?

your answers will greatly appreciated. thank you and have a wonderful day.

I've read all of the posts, all the positive, all the negative....There are issues dealing with people, insurance companies, adjusters that know and don't know what they're doing. As in any other career there are employers that are excellent to work for and those that are difficult...there are fellow technicians that feel they know everything when knowing very little but, because they have been around the trade longer than a relatively new technician, garner more respect than they deserve. To sum this part of the equation up, your 23 years old....you will find this no matter what career path you chose...the players will be different but, there are always players.

The question you need to ask yourself is, where does your passion lye? Are you passionate about cars? What part of the industry do you want to become a big part of your life, because no matter what career you choose, what you do does become a big part of your life.

I have been in the automotive trade my whole life, would I choose any other trade if I could go back in time...no, I'm passionate about what I do. I've loved cars since as far back as I can remember, I wanted them to go fast and cosmetically stand out. I did however get tired of repairing belly button cars and did loose my passion for repairing them after they where involved in an accident but never lost my original desire. Now after over 40 years in the industry I am in a position to do what I've always wanted, to build and work on cars that I choose to build and work on. It's now fun again, but it did take many years of learning, figuring out what I needed to do to get to where I wanted to be...years of not getting the respect that I felt I deserved and struggling through that to finally get that respect. Today, as I had always hoped, a restoration or custom vehicle is my canvas and I do consider it art.

If you have the passion, if you have realistic goals and a plan to achieve them, if you have the drive to overlook all of the downsides of the industry and are focused on what you want to achieve, you will be successful. The keys are, the passion, the desire and the ability to withstand all the obstacles in your way to reach your end goal...the obstacles are in every path you choose regardless.

On a final note...if you do choose this trade, as many people have mentioned, take all the precautions available to protect your health...in my opinion this is a much larger downside than any adjuster, co-worker or employer.

Hope this helps.

Ray

01-10-2013 10:57 PM

MARTINSR

Good to hear you keep on top of it Henry, good going. You want the welding mask for sure, weld thru primer (most of it) is 95% zinc, you do NOT want to breath zinc fumes. All metal in cars made the last number of decades is zinc coated (galvanized). Real good to hear you are doing that, I hate seeing people not protecting themselves, this stuff is very dangerous.

Brian

01-10-2013 09:59 PM

tech69

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

While on this subject of old dudes, Henry, protect yourself! 54 years old comes so damn fast you won't believe it.
That goes for everyone, Randy, John, everyone, protect yourself. Get anal about it, protect yourself around this stuff. I have seen too many horror stories.

Brian

I play basketball all the time and am known for my hustle play at the gym, take my vitamins, drink lots of water, take organic apple cider vinegar, and eat decent food. I wear solvent proof gloves when cleaning my bondo board, wear a mask all the time but I slipped up yesterday. Welding a patch and behind it was por 15 burning away. Everytime I saw the smoke I blew it away and stepped back but I probably should have had my charcoal mask on instead of the pancake weld approved filters. Already had a couple scares with my eyes and for a while I'd see a glare out of one eye from streetlights or any bright light. It eventually went away the last time I checked...by closing one eye at a time and comparing. They both were equal...unless I messed up my other eye without knowing.

Yeah, that's one thing to consider when entering this trade.

01-10-2013 07:01 PM

Spray Machine

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

I have to tell you, you are working with some top notch technicians! There is no way that I can see that this would work in the shop I work at. I have been the supplement guy where I work before I took over the parts, and I still go out there and do this. In my down time I will walk out and look at a car that has already had a supplemented, and add another $300-500, EASY. For that matter, sometimes it's $2000 more! I am amazed at what these guys don't see. And we go by manufacturers and ICAR standards. Yes we replace a LOT of structural stuff, because that is what the guidelines say to do. But anyway, yes we never go by the adjusters est, are there really shops who do this? REALLY? That would be the most ignorant thing I have ever heard! I have wondered how the heck they will write such poor estimates, "really, you really think we would do it this way?" REALLY? So I have wondered if there are shops out there that do what they say? We work with the insurance, to our advantage. We get paid for EVERYTHING we do, we get paid for EVERYTHING the car needs for OUR customer. Be it a direct (we are direct repair with a number of companies) or someone else, we get paid properly. Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot more work to do it these days with trail fitting AM parts and then going to OEM or turning down used parts, and all that crap, but in the end we get paid.

On the tech making more money than anyone else, looking at business as a businessman (the guy who CREATES the job) should a guy in the toaster factory putting toasters together get the same pay as the salesman who brought in the $million dollar a year account?
Just something to think about.

Brian

Maybe I should have said the techs generally make more than appraisers and office "staff", at least up here, maybe the pay scale is different? Goes without saying the owner makes much more than techs.

We get along with the insurance companies, we don't take advantage of them and vice versa. I think the appraisers appreciate us doing what we do for them, they rarely come to our shop for supplements, they rarely come to our shop at all, it works for us and apparently for them, we are out in the boonies. When they do come out it's more a visit, usually a walk around the shop check up on a a few things, lunch and a bullchit session then they drive back to the city, a break from the rat race. We find that the techs making supplements takes a link out of the chain of command, techs are trusted enough to correctly supplement missed stuff or hidden damage found after tear down, don't have to have someone from the office confirm it unless it's something rediculous.Tech emails office, sends pics, estimate is adjusted if it's legit. Shop claims manager has the final call but it runs pretty smoothly, he dosen't have to go out in the shop every time someone wants a supp, tech can carry on with the job not having waiting for some one to approve, etc. Techs like assessing their own jobs, gives them a sense of control of the job and they like seeing the impact on their paycheques, they become very efficient at finding and making sure nothing is missed and all steps get billed.

Really there are still shops, at least in this neck of the woods who take estimates at face value or contract jobs to get them in the door, shops trying to 'save' write offs to keep busy. Usually smaller old school shops that think they can 'fix' everything. I've experienced a couple in my time, you know the ones who think they can make money bondoing up a totalled body panel, masking trim and emblems instead of re and re, trying to butt match paint, all sorts of stuff like that, the shops with the mentality of the lowest estimate gets the job. You would think they would learn. You see those jobs driving around on the street, paint dosen't match, moulding is falling off, door is sagging, paint is peeling around the trim, body lines/panels wavy, full of bondo, uneven gaps etc. Thankfully most are going the way of the dinosaur.

01-10-2013 12:53 PM

MARTINSR

While on this subject of old dudes, Henry, protect yourself! 54 years old comes so damn fast you won't believe it.
That goes for everyone, Randy, John, everyone, protect yourself. Get anal about it, protect yourself around this stuff. I have seen too many horror stories.

Brian

01-10-2013 12:51 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech69

Martin, you don't have to prove yourself. I just said it's great there's other opportunities within the trade for people. I never said you can't do it anymore and if I would have guessed I'd say burnt out on it. I'm happy for you and can't say I wouldn't do the same but don't worry, they're not reading your posts. You don't have to sound so loyal to the darkside, you're still a Jedi under that suit.

LOLOLOLOL, no really, LOLOLOLOLOL

Brian

01-10-2013 12:50 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech69

let's be honest here, most of the time it's the tech teaching the estimator what can be done. Then they make some phonecall and some one like you who's an adjuster who was once a jedi that turned to the darkside comes in and verifies what the tech is saying. You know it's true-lol

LOL, by the way that is damn funny stuff.

Brian

01-10-2013 12:49 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech69

let's be honest here, most of the time it's the tech teaching the estimator what can be done. Then they make some phonecall and some one like you who's an adjuster who was once a jedi that turned to the darkside comes in and verifies what the tech is saying. You know it's true-lol

You are absolutely right that does happen often. I have experienced it's just like any other job, some know some don't. As I said we are a big shop, we do about 135 cars a month average and see a lot of insurance adjusters and estimators. They come in every shape and form (a few having damn nice shapes , one is model like, the shop STOPS when she walks thru) and every different amount of knowledge possible. Many of them REALLY know their stuff, some of them have been a tech, others not, but they really know their stuff.

Brian

01-10-2013 12:03 PM

tech69

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

No it isn't about if they can do it, think about it, it is that they can know WHAT an be done. That is two different things and they CAN know JUST AS MUCH as you about what CAN be done. Being able to do it is a totally different thing and that is the skills you possess. But you don't need those skills to now WHAT can be done.

It's like a baseball fan, I can't hit a ball out of the park, hell I can't hit it out of the infield. But if a ball player told me he could hit the ball up to the lights like in the "Natural" or hit the skin off the ball I could tell him he can't, I don't have to have tried, I don't have to have taken 7000 hits as a big league player to know this. He has skills I don't, but I KNOW it can't be done.

Or I know it can be done, I KNOW the guy should be able to bunt the ball towards third to get on base, I couldn't do it, he has the skills, but I KNOW he should be able to do it.

The adjuster who comes into your shop has seen THOUSANDS of damaged cars, he sees them before they are repaired, he sees them after, he KNOWS what can be done. He needs to be respected for what he does, he will give you a lot more if he is given that respect and not treated like a piece of dirt as a lot of shops do.

Brian

let's be honest here, most of the time it's the tech teaching the estimator what can be done. Then they make some phonecall and some one like you who's an adjuster who was once a jedi that turned to the darkside comes in and verifies what the tech is saying. You know it's true-lol

01-10-2013 12:01 PM

tech69

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

So why do we chose to do something? Because we can't do the old thing anymore? Nope, that would be what someone who makes poor decisions does. Like I said, I love this industry and am more than happy to do anything my employer needs me to do, as long as it isn't immoral, illegal or fattening.

I went into the office here, not so much because i couldn't do it, though hemming a door skin would leave my arm damn sore! I got sick and tired of a moron I had to work next to screaming and whistling all day long! It was like working in a friggin rain forest! Honestly, I was going to leave that shop one way or another. I did and he actually didn't last too much longer.

But as I said, I protected myself so I am still in damn good shape and could go out there and do the job again tomorrow if that is what they needed me to do.

Brian

Martin, you don't have to prove yourself. I just said it's great there's other opportunities within the trade for people. I never said you can't do it anymore and if I would have guessed I'd say burnt out on it. I'm happy for you and can't say I wouldn't do the same but don't worry, they're not reading your posts. You don't have to sound so loyal to the darkside, you're still a Jedi under that suit.

01-10-2013 11:58 AM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEW INTERIORS

I do respect every man at every job.. Just to show you how well I do respect everyone and every job... I'm the only one on MY street that bring's out water or a coke to the guy's on the garbage truck that pick's up my garbage.. Even the driver.. So that's three drinks... Them, and my neighbors just give me a look like.. WHAT ARE YOU DOING !!!!!

I just tell them I respect them for taking that job on..

Now.. As far as what I was getting at with what I posted... Don't make it sound like if it wasn't for the people in the office,, The shop wouldn't be what it is without them.. I have many friends that have shop's.. And no ones sit's in the office... And have been running their shop's for years now..

Yes the people in the office can make a difference...And I have seen many shop's go under... But on the other hand.. Many ran for years without anyone in the office... Most Mom and pop Place's don't have people sitting in a office.. So I hope you got the point I was trying to make...EVERYONE'S job is important,,

Most if not all rich people making their money,Is from the people getting their hands dirty under them...

Let's don't forget about all the big companies that have been run in the ground by the one's in the office..

I totally agree.

Brian

01-10-2013 11:56 AM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech69

so you're saying they can't actually do the work then, right? They sure can on paper though!

No it isn't about if they can do it, think about it, it is that they can know WHAT an be done. That is two different things and they CAN know JUST AS MUCH as you about what CAN be done. Being able to do it is a totally different thing and that is the skills you possess. But you don't need those skills to now WHAT can be done.

It's like a baseball fan, I can't hit a ball out of the park, hell I can't hit it out of the infield. But if a ball player told me he could hit the ball up to the lights like in the "Natural" or hit the skin off the ball I could tell him he can't, I don't have to have tried, I don't have to have taken 7000 hits as a big league player to know this. He has skills I don't, but I KNOW it can't be done.

Or I know it can be done, I KNOW the guy should be able to bunt the ball towards third to get on base, I couldn't do it, he has the skills, but I KNOW he should be able to do it.

The adjuster who comes into your shop has seen THOUSANDS of damaged cars, he sees them before they are repaired, he sees them after, he KNOWS what can be done. He needs to be respected for what he does, he will give you a lot more if he is given that respect and not treated like a piece of dirt as a lot of shops do.

Brian

This thread has more than 15 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.